January theatre

It’s the start of a new year, and hopefully 2016 will bring us the same high quality theatre that we saw in 2015.

Certainly the PUSH Festival at HOME offers a range of high quality theatre ‘created by Greater Manchester’s most exciting companies and performers’. Push replaces Re:Play with a format that seems to focus more on theatre making than writing. Picks include Babel Theatre’s You Must Be the One to Bury Me and Mighty Heart’s What’s the Matter With You? and When I Feel Like Crap I Google Kim Kardashian Fat. There are seven shows across the festival, each on two or three times. Probably worth seeing everything if you can. January 12 – 23, tickets here.

WIT is on at the Royal Exchange from 21 Jan. A professor of metaphysical poetry battles against cancer in her hospital bed. I’ve seen this before and despite the difficult subject matter this is an incredibly uplifting and life-affirming play, a superb piece of writing. Chances are Julie Hesmondhalgh will be superb in the lead role, and this is very definitely my pick of mainstream theatre in January.

New venue Hope Mill Theatre launch their 2016 season with Orphans. Hannah Ellis Ryan, who cofounded Play With Fire Productions with Daniel Bradford, comments ‘Orphans is an iconic 1980’s play, written by Lyle Kessler, recently in the spotlight after a showing on Broadway staring Alec Baldwin. Orphans is special for a number of reasons. Firstly, it launches the 2016 season of Hope Mill Theatre, a recently opened venue in Ancoats that feels like exactly what Manchester needs. Secondly, it launches Play With Fire Productions. We focus on giving voices to the invisible and daring greatly.‘ From 13-16 Jan and 20-23 Jan, tickets here.

For something a little different, maybe try I Heart Catherine Pistachio at the Lowry Studio . This is ‘a dangerously dark physical comedy about a square-eyed young girl stuck in a suburban swamp of abuse’. 29 Jan only, Lowry Studio.